UK weather recap: Hundreds of homes will be flooded over the next two days, Environment Agency warns

The number of severe flood warnings hit 16 as the Thames swelled following recent downpours

Thousands of homes along the River Thames have been told to prepare for "significant flooding", as the number of severe flood warnings in the south of England swelled to 16.

Of the severe flood warnings, 14 relate to a lengthy stretch of the Thames through Oxfordshire and Surrey, and two remain in place in crisis-hit Somerset Levels.

The Environment Agency said the Thames warnings stretched "from Datchet to Shepperton Green, including Ham Court and Chertsey, as river levels in the area are extremely high and are forecast to continue to rise".

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the areas are expected to suffer "significant" problems by the middle of the week.

Although southern England and Wales will see a quieter day with light showers, the latest storm will arrive this evening with heavy rain of up to 0.78ins (20mm), weather forecasters MeteoGroup said.

While emergency work to prevent flooding continues - including the distribution of tens of thousands more sandbags by the Royal Marines - the Environment Agency boss has hit back at Government critics.

Under-fire Lord Smith has accused ministers of "getting in the way" of vital work to deal with devastating floods by turning the crisis into a political row.

The peer defended the quango's handling of the situation and issued a furious broadside at what he said were attempts by politicians to undermine the work and reputation of the Agency in a bid to secure better media coverage.

"What really saddens me, though, is seeing the Environment Agency's work and expertise in flood-risk management, internationally respected and locally praised in many parts of the country, being used as a political football for a good media story," he wrote in an article for the Guardian.

"In a lifetime in public life, I've never seen the same sort of storm of background briefing, personal sniping and media frenzy getting in the way of decent people doing a valiant job trying to cope with unprecedented natural forces.

"Our staff have worked their hearts out in order to protect as many people as possible in the face of extreme weather.

"They'll carry on doing so. But there's no place for playing politics in the serious business of flood protection."

Repeated calls for dredging were made to Downing Street and other Whitehall departments by farmers and others in the Somerset region from at least six months ago but funding was declined.

Mr Pickles has blamed faulty Agency advice for the scale of the damage to the Somerset Levels and declined to dismiss calls for the former Labour cabinet minister to resign.

"We made a mistake, there's no doubt about that and we perhaps relied too much on the Environment Agency's advice," Mr Pickles told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"I am really sorry that we took the advice ... we thought we were dealing with experts."

But Lord Smith pointed the finger of blame for the failure to sufficiently dredge rivers at Treasury funding rules.

He said a Treasury-imposed "benefit-to-cost" rule had limited the sum the EA had been able to devote to dredging the silted-up rivers which failed to drain the Levels properly.

It had put the maximum £400,000 on the table it was allowed to, he said, but "the additional funds from other sources that would be needed didn't come in".

"So when politicians start saying it's Environment Agency advice or decisions that are to blame, they need to realise that it's in fact government rules - laid down by successive governments, Labour and Tory - that are at the heart of the problem."

As politicians traded blows on the political fall-out from the disaster, police were investigating whether seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, who died after falling ill in his flood-hit home in Chertsey, Surrey, may have become a victim of the floods.

Officers have refused to be drawn on whether carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator pumping out flood water from his home may have been to blame, which also saw his parents, Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, taken ill.

There are more than 230 low-level flood alerts and more than 150 medium-risk warnings in place across Wales and central and southern England with severe weather expected throughout the week.

The Met Office warned that river levels are expected to continue rising along the Thames, the Severn and the Dorset Stour this week.

A further 20,000 sandbags are ready to be deployed to communities at risk of flooding on the Somerset Levels.

Somerset County Council staff have worked tirelessly alongside Royal Marines from 40 Commando throughout the weekend to prepare a further 20,000 sandbags for use.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Military personnel, currently mostly Royal Marines, continue to provide support in Somerset in areas affected by floods as part of cross-Government and multi-agency relief efforts.

"As the Prime Minister has said, all available resources are being brought to bear to help those still struggling as a result of the floods."

The Ministry of Defence has put 1,600 personnel on six hours' notice to help in the south.

Surrey Police and Thames Valley Police have issued safety advice to residents in their area expected to be affected by flooding.

A spokesman for Surrey Police said up to 2,500 homes are at risk of flooding and added that military assistance is being provided.

The Prime Minister, speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee yesterday, said he had "made clear again that every resource is available to the local communities affected".

Network Rail had been told to do "whatever it takes" to restore badly disrupted rail links - which earlier saw the south west cut off entirely.

8:06 am

National Rail has cancelled trains because of flooding in Datchet, near the Thames in Berkshire.

In a statement, the company said: "The River Thames has flooded at Datchet and other locations between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside.

"Because of this, trains are unable to run and a replacement bus service is not available."

Services are also disrupted between Oxford and Radley, and Bridgewater and Taunton.

Damage at Dawlish, Devon, continue to disrupt services to the South West.

Paul Daniels, who lives by the Thames and is used to dealing with flooding, has hit out at the Environment Agency for its late warning about rising water.

He suggested that we should "Dump [Environment] Agency and bring back local knowledge."

In the past he has remained upbeat about his home in Marlow being flooding telling neighbours to "get inflatable paddling pools downstairs and dump everything you can into them. You will save so much stuff."

Dear PM. Your Environment Agency Floodline has just sent phone and email messages warning us our house might be flooded. Too late by DAYS.

These statements from National Rail explain the problems commuters are facing today:

Taunton - Exeter - Plymouth - Penzance

Major disruption to First Great Western and CrossCountry trains. The line is closed, and buses are replacing trains, between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.

First Great Western have buses replacing trains between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot. Trains are running between Newton Abbot / Plymouth and Penzance.

CrossCountry have buses replacing trains non-stop between Bristol Parkway and Plymouth (passengers requiring interim stops can travel on the First Great Western buses). The normal train service is running between Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Penzance.

Bridgwater- Taunton

Flooding in the Bridgwater and Taunton areas means that a limited number of trains are able to run between Bridgwater and Taunton.

CrossCountry are running a replacement bus service between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton.

8:33 am

This picture of Eel Pie Island near Ham, West London, shows the level of flooding along the Thames.

There are 14 severe flood warnings along a large stretch of the river.

Thousands of people face evacuation as emergency services warn of a "significant threat to life"

Embattled chairman of the Environment Agency has hit back at ministers in a growing row over the handling of devastating winter storms.

As thousands of families along the River Thames braced for more flooding, Lord Smith insisted his staff knew "a hundred times" more than any politician.

He also squarely blamed Treasury funding rules for failure to dredge rivers, and again insisted he had no intention of resigning.

The intervention, in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, came after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles issued a barbed apology for taking Environment Agency (EA) advice - saying ministers had "thought we were dealing with experts".

8:50 am

Ticket restrictions have been lifted on trains run by First Great Western.

Many of its services are unable to run because of the flooding and people who can't travel can claim a refund.

Some of the lines have replacement bus services in operation.

We're very busy at the moment & may not be able to reply to everyone. If you need info on your journey please visit http://t.co/eyCYH8qPps

These maps show the level of flooding across southern England, the Midlands and Wales.

The close-up underneath shows a large number of severe flood warnings in a close space along the Thames.

Houses are being evacuated as the Environment Agency warns of a "significant risk to life"

8:59 am

Getting back to Lord Smith's interview this morning in which he defended his staff, the Environment Agency chairman added: "When I hear someone criticising the expertise and professionalism of my staff in the Environment Agency who know more about flood risk management - 100 times more about flood risk management - than any politician ever does, I am not, I'm afraid, going to sit idly by.

"The EA is bound by the rules that are laid down by the Government. So when someone says that we followed the advice of the EA, what they were actually doing is following the Treasury rules that say how much we can spend and how much we cannot spend on any individual flood defence scheme."

The former Labour Cabinet minister said the EA was previously permitted to allocate only £400,000 to Somerset, and no other funding came forward.

"The situation now has completely changed because not only has the Government come up with some extra money for Somerset, but they have said the Treasury rules won't apply to Somerset."

He added that "money absolutely is a big part of the issue".

Lord Smith was asked about reports that Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who was leading the Government flooding response before being forced to undergo an eye operation, complained to Downing Street about Mr Pickles' criticism of the EA.

"I have indeed spoken with Owen Paterson by text... he has been hugely supportive throughout of the Environment Agency, its staff and its work and I very much appreciate that."

9:06 am

Many people are struggling to get to work on the roads as well as the trains.

Traffic this morning to the west of London appears severely affected by the flooding.

The red and black lines from Google Maps show that there are long delays on the M4, M3 and M25.

9:12 am

While the south copes with flooding, the rest of the country is being warned of slippery roads.

As this Met Office map shows, pretty much all of Northern Ireland, Wales, large parts of Scotland and vast swathes of England have ice warnings in place.

Temperatures dropped to -1C overnight in some places.

9:16 am

This weather warning shows that there is no rest in the weather just yet.

More severe weather is due to hit the country tomorrow morning, while in Scotland there are warnings of snow.

Heavy rain is expected to start falling in South West England from around 6am tomorrow, sweeping east towards London and East Anglia.

9:21 am

It's little wonder that the Thames is struggling to cope when you see pictures like this one.

It is supposed to be just a tributary but instead it is now a lake.

The picture was taken near Wraysbury which is facing evacuation.

Severe Flood Warning at Wraysbury. This is just a tributary but it's flooding across fields as far as you can see pic.twitter.com/wQZa9YSTQT

Chris Smith said that he has "absolutely no intention of resigning" over the floods.

He said: "I have had messages from staff around the country saying 'please don't [quit], thank you for supporting us.

"This is the wettest winter on record that we have ever had. That is the reason that places are being flooded."

In a Guardian article, Lord Smith accused ministers of "getting in the way" of vital work to deal with devastating floods by turning the crisis into a political row.

"In a lifetime in public life, I've never seen the same sort of storm of background briefing, personal sniping and media frenzy getting in the way of decent people doing a valiant job trying to cope with unprecedented natural forces," he wrote.

"Our staff have worked their hearts out in order to protect as many people as possible in the face of extreme weather.

"They'll carry on doing so. But there's no place for playing politics in the serious business of flood protection.

"Repeated calls for dredging were made to Downing Street and other Whitehall departments by farmers and others in the Somerset region from at least six months ago but funding was declined."

9:42 am

This video shows the human cost of flooding.

Volunteers help a family retrieve what they can from a house in a few inches of water.